Can someone give me an account of the word wherewithal? According to etymonline it is a combination of where and withal. But withal means "in addition." So how does wherewithal come to mean "having the means?"
Additionally, what is the name of the phenomenon of two words joining into one - where + withal?

3 Answers
3

According to "juggler-ga" at Google Answers (check it out, it's a good read), understanding wherewithal works better if it's parsed wherewith-al rather than where-withal

Using Chaucer quotes from the OED, juggler establishes wherewith as originally having an interregatory meaning of with what and explains that the practice of adding where to prepositions does not imply location. Moving on to some Shakespeare quotes, juggler shows how wherewith took the form of a conjunction meaning with which and then concludes:

Finally, and most importantly to this discussion, wherewith took the
form of a noun meaning "that with which." OED Examples:

1611 Bible Ps. cxix. 42 So shall I have wherewith to answere him that reprocheth me.

In other words, "So shall I have that with which to answer him..."

1788 PRIESTLEY Lect. Hist. V. lviii. 460 They will have wherewith to
purchase the produce of other countries.

In other words, "They will have that with which to purchase the
produce..."

In this sense (a noun meaning "that with which"), "wherewith" is the
equivalent of "wherewithal." And in fact the two were used
interchangeably.

OED example:

1742 FIELDING J. Andrews IV. i, When your ladyship's livery was
stript off, he had not wherewithal to buy a coat.

And this usage as a noun is the form that has come down to us meaning
the necessary funds or resources.

As for the -al, apparently with, withal and withall were used interchangeably by the likes of Shakespeare and the KJB scribes.

Thanks for the input Hugo, but how does any of that answer either of my two questions? Further, I mentioned all of that in my original post.
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MarkSep 27 '11 at 8:21

It answers at least some of the pre-edit questions that didn't yet reference etymonline: 1. If this is indeed a combination of three words, *where*, *with* and *all*, how do these types of combinations come about and what are they called? -> shows from where + withal, and dates of origin, and which English language. 2. If the above account is correct, why is *al* spelled with only one *l*? -> shows not directly from all but from withal with one l.
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HugoSep 27 '11 at 8:24

Correct, but your answer appeared after the edit, making it irrelevant.
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MarkSep 27 '11 at 8:27

I think I answered before the question edit was made. I then edited my answer to add links to etymonline, and I think the question was edited at the same time, but I didn't see it until pressing save and re-loading the page :)
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HugoSep 27 '11 at 8:31

‘Wherewithal’ itself doesn’t mean ‘having the means’. However, when preceded by the definite article it takes on the meaning of 'the means or resources (to do something)'. It can also be used without a following infinitive and when it is it can mean more specifically financial resources. Both uses are first recorded in 1809.

A word like ‘wherewithal’, which has more than one lexical stem, is called a compound.

Although the OED give the etymology as ‘where’ + ‘withal’, I think we might better be able to understand how it comes to mean (financial) resources by regarding it as a combination of the long established ‘wherewith’ (meaning 'with which') + ‘al’, ‘al’ being an earlier spelling of ‘all’. ‘The wherewithal’ is thus the means with which all things can be accomplished.
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Barrie EnglandSep 27 '11 at 14:34